Shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI) jumped 5% on Tuesday following a report that activist investor Jana Partners has accumulated a stake in the Milwaukee-based fintech services provider and is privately engaging with the company about measures to boost its market value.
According to people familiar with the discussions, Jana believes Fiserv stands to benefit from a strong spending environment among banks. The precise size of the activist firm’s position was not disclosed in the report.
Investors have penalized Fiserv heavily over the past year. The stock fell nearly 70% over the prior 12 months amid slower growth in its core merchant-solutions unit and intensifying competition across the industry. Year-to-date the shares remain down by more than 11%.
Much of last year’s rapid decline followed a change in leadership. When CEO Mike Lyons took the helm in May, he trimmed previously issued profit forecasts with the stated intent of resetting Wall Street’s expectations for earnings growth. That revision coincided with a single-day market-value loss of about $30 billion for the company.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Jana Partners supports Lyons’ emphasis on tightening execution and pursuing a refresh of the board. The report did not say whether Jana intends to seek board representation as part of its engagement.
Lyons joined Fiserv after leaving his prior role at PNC Financial. He succeeded Frank Bisignano, who departed to take a position in the Trump administration.
Contextual note - The report that catalyzed Tuesday’s share movement detailed private discussions between the activist investor and the Milwaukee-based company but did not quantify the stake or specify any concrete demands.
Moving forward, market participants will be watching whether the activist engagement yields formal proposals, whether board representation is sought, and how management’s execution plan unfolds against a backdrop of challenging merchant processing dynamics and heightened competition.